1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of cardiology and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a total artificial heart (TAH) system and method for auto-regulating blood flow and appropriately maintaining the asymmetric physiologic balance between the systemic and pulmonary systems of the mammalian cardiovascular system.
2. History of Related Art
There are 3,500,000 people who have significant heart failure in the United States alone. Several hundred thousand people are diagnosed each year with congestive heart failure while another 50,000 die each year from this ailment. For most of these patients with heart failure, heart transplantation offers a reasonable option but severe limitation of donor organ availability limits its epidemiologic impact. Last year, approximately 2,000-2,100 heart transplants were performed in the United States and that number has been flat for the last several years.
Extra-corporeal ventricular assist devices providing mechanical circulatory support are routinely employed in patients with advanced heart failure in hospitals worldwide. Although for many patients, heart assist provides adequate palliation, there remains a large underserved population in whom severe biventricular failure exists, and in whom mechanical circulatory support is inadequate. Additionally, prolonged use of the extra-corporeal ventricular assist devices can potentially lead to valve related complications. Hence, the development of a reliable completely implantable device to replace the heart could provide a valuable treatment option in these poorly served patients.